SunGard Trading Systems has announced plans to integrate its major cash and derivatives trading systems to offer a single cross-asset solution under the Front Arena brand.
The combined solution will combine Front Arena, Global Trader and Treasury Trader under a new operating unit to be headed by Jonas Lindström, former chief executive of Sungard subsidiary Front Capital Systems.
SunGard Trading Systems global markets division laid off over 20% of its worldwide workforce in February last year following sluggish sales. Staff were told of the cuts in a memo circulated by Jim Davis, who moved from HP to head up the Sungard business unit in November 2001.
SunGard staffers have been unavailable to discuss the implication of the latest move for staffing levels or expense reduction.
In a statement, Lindström says: "This is a strategic move on behalf of SunGard Trading Systems to exploit opportunities by bringing Front Capital Systems and global markets together. Increasingly customers are looking to consolidate systems yet maintain the same level of functionality across desks and across the enterprise."
Front Arena is widely used in Europe and South Africa and is known for its equities, fixed income and derivatives functionality, exchange interfaces and its recent enhancements for credit derivatives. Global Trader, used by top fifty financial institutions in the US and Asia, is a front-office trade, order management and transaction processing system for fixed income and foreign exchange. Treasury Trader is a global foreign exchange and money markets system.
The combined product offerings have an installed base of over 150 institutions comprising more than 9000 users.